- Each OLED -Pixel can also be an audio source
- No need for conventional speakers and no increase in thickness
- Could be used for screens in the car, smartphones and headsets
For years, the TV industry has been thinking about pixels: how to make them brighter, how to make them smaller, how to put them together in the best possible way. And now there’s a new push: How to make them sound.
As discovered by Science Daily, scientists at Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech for short) have created a 13-inch OLED panel, with each pixel providing sound as well as light.
And this technique could one day deliver multi-channel sound with incredible precision-by-demanding speaker drivers.
Pixels should be heard as well as seen
As Science Daily reports (HAT TIP for NotebookCheck), the team has called their invention ‘Pixel-based local audio OLED technology’. And as they explain, the problem of TV sound is that it is really difficult to get an accurate positional sound with conventional speakers.
“The core problem is that traditional excites – devices that vibrate to produce sound – are large and heavy, making it difficult to implement multiple devices without interference or compromise OLED’s thin design,” the researchers say. “In addition, the audio junction between several speakers leads to a lack of precise control over localized sound.”
Their solution was to integrate piezo-electric excites within the OLED displays. “These piezo -excits arranged in the same way as pixels convert electrical signals to sound vibrations without occupying external space. Of crucial importance, they are fully compatible with the thin form factor for OLED panels.”
It allows every pixel to become an independent sound source, and the team says they were able to eliminate crosspieces completely – so sounds coming from different parts of the screen did not disturb each other.
The uses of the technology go beyond TVs. One suggestion is that screens in the car could send different sounds to different people, for example by giving vocal directions to the driver while the passenger is listening to music. And in phones or headsets the sound could be changed when the head, hand or device moves.
According to Professor Su Seok Choi, “This technology has the potential to become a core feature of the next generation devices that enable slim, lightweight design in smartphones, laptops and car cuts-mens they deliver immersive sound with high faith.”
“Have the potential“ Bit is key: this is a proof of concept, not a product – and there is a big difference between producing sound and producing Excellent Sound. And of course, what works in a 13-inch prototype may prove to be much more difficult to obtain in panels with larger sizes.
There is also the question of costs – so while the message is definitely exciting, I think the best sound beams can breathe easily for a few more years.
